On February 17th 2015, you can say that my literary dreams had been achieved. And this is how it began.
Four months ago, my family and I went for a short vacation in London. During our time in the British soil, we met up with my uncle, his wife and four of my dear little cousins whom are living there for almost four years now. The last time I met up with my uncle and auntie was in 2012. And so, you can imagine on how much we had caught up on with how our lives were doing and everything. Meeting with my auntie was the best thing during our trip because she is a very, very lovely person. She had asked me on what I am studying right now and gave me such supportive advises, which is why I adore her. But on one night during our family dinner together, my auntie had asked us on what was on our agenda for the next day. Coincidentally, we didn't have any exact plans on that specific day and my auntie also took off work just so she can spend time with us. Therefore, she and my father had suggested that we should go to Warwickshire and visited the birthplace of William Shakespeare! Being an English Literature student and a literature bookworm myself, they completely understand on how much this would mean to me and how it would affect my studies in the future by witnessing and going to the birthplace of my literary idol. My auntie then immediately bought the tickets online for all of us to visit the historical place. I was beyond ecstatic and really could not contained my excitement for the next day. Truth to be told, I was almost in tears.
Our road trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire from Hammersmith took us almost two hours to arrive at the destination. When we finally arrived in Warwick, the first thing I noticed was antique second-hand bookshops. It was everywhere! Moreover, their bookshops and little cafes had the name of Shakespeare on every board. And I do mean, every one of them. Well, almost all of them. Being in that quiet little town, I felt like I was in the 16th century period, what with most of the people are dressing in that way because they happened to be tour guides for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Anyway, the first place we went to was a little convention they set up before going out to the gardens and house of William Shakespeare's father. (Essentially, the house he was born in and raised at). The little convention had all these information of Shakespeare's early life, his family tree and most excitingly, all the works and plays that he had written during his lifetime which what makes the foundation of all literature in the world today.
After learning the historical background of Shakespeare in the convention, we then proceeded into going outside to the garden. Now, the real tour begins. Stepping outside into the fresh air with the sun smiling down upon us, I finally saw the house. The house of William Shakespeare. The birthplace of William Shakespeare. After all these years, I was finally there. Stepping my shaking foot into the door of the house was an absolutely bizarre moment for me though, to be quite honest. Because I really could not believe it. But when we got into the first hall, we were given a bit of introduction about the house and the Shakespeare family by a lady whom was dressed in a 16th century garments and she was apparently the "Lady of the House". To this day, I still specifically remember what she said before we continue on our site visit: "Now just remember, when you are about to go exploring into the house, just keep in mind that you are walking onto these very floors that William walks on, and these are the very walls that William touches." I was gagging! Immediately I found both of my hands touching the very same wall that Shakespeare used to touch with his very own flesh hands 500 years before. Like ahh! I was on Cloud 9, literally. Next, I came upon a room with a single bed which was the very bed that Mary Shakespeare had given birth to William. You can imagine how excited I was by this time in this small confining room, soaking up the raw information that I am only a few feet away from the bed and standing in the very room that Shakespeare was born into.
The tour went on. Afterwards, we then went to visit the garden of Anne Hathaway, the wife of William. But sadly, our trip was in February which means all the beautiful flowers and plants that were planted in the garden there had withered and were not blooming. But I can imagine that it must have been absolutely lovely and colourful during spring and summer. At the end of the day, the last place we visited was the graveyard of the great poet/playwright in Stratford Church. I must say, I was feeling completely emotional and overwhelmed when I visited his grave. It was all just too surreal to handle because it really felt like I was feeling his presence there for a moment. I felt like his spirit was floating near me.
Overall, I found the tour to be very educational indeed. And I was so happy that I purchased a leather and hardcover book of Shakespeare's Sonnets, a beautiful leather bookmark and a mug with illustrations of characters from all his famous plays. What makes me absolutely thrilled was that the book and the other items that I purchased are obviously not available in Malaysia because they were only sold in The Shakespeare Bookshop in Stratford!
I really couldn't be more grateful towards my family, especially for blessing me with an incredible opportunity of making my literary dream turning into reality. On that note, this is only the beginning of my literary journey and I am optimistic to embark on another one in the future as there are still so much to learn yet in the world of literature. As for now, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust: checked!
